walker



No. 622,572. Patented Apr. 4, I899.

H. WALKER. SEPARATING AND GRADING MACHINE.

(Applicatiqn filed Oct. 2, 1897. Renewed. Feb. 18, 1899.)

2 Sheets$haei I.

(No Model.)

Wibzss'es.

No. 622,572. Patented Apr. 4, I899. H. WALKER.

SEPARATING AND GRADING MACHINE.

(Application filed Oct. 2, 1897. Renewed Feb 18, 1899.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Wfizeases. lrwweizlbr.

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NTED STATES rrrcn. I

PATENT HARRY XVALKER, OF LEEDS, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO IVILLIAM JOHNSON,-

' OF SAME PLACE.

SEPARATING AND GRADING MACHlNE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent N0. 622,572, dated April 4,1899.

Application filed Qctnher 2, 1897. Renewed February 18, 1899. Serial No.706,063. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY WALKER, a subject of the Queen of GreatBritain, residing at Leeds, in the county of York, England, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Separating and Grading Machines,(for which Letters Patent have been granted in England, No. 8,274, datedApril 20, 1896, and No. 16,616, dated July 27, 1896,) of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention has reference to improvements in machinery employed inseparating and grading various kinds of materials, such as mineral ores,of different sizes or specific gravities, but particularly to that classcomposed of two or more grades,whereby the finer particles are drawnaway or separated from the heavier or coarser particles prior to thelatterfalling by gravity. Its object is to accomplish this by submittingthe material operated upon to a plurality of distinct separatingactions, namely: First, on the material entering the feed-chamber afterit has been acted upon by a disintegrator or sieve the fine particlesare drawn by the suction of a fan either directly or through a cone in achamber which will hereinafter be termed the dustchan1ber; second, Whilethe heavier material or tailing is falling by its gravity into thefeedchamber it is submitted to the action of a column of air enteringthe said chamber through, say, a suitable pipe, and this causes thefiner particles to be carried upward and drawn by the fan into thedust-chamber 3 third,when the heaviermaterial falls upon or strikesagainst, say, a fixed beater-plate the finer particles (if any) will bythe concussion be separated from the heavier material and conveyed bythe suction of the air entering the feed-chamber through thebefore-mentioned pipe into the cone, from which it is drawn by the faninto the fine chamber, or it may be drawn by the fan into thedust-chamber Without the use of a cone. These objects are attained byvmechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1is a sectional elevation; Fig. 2, a

front elevation; Fig. 3, a sectional elevation of separating apparatusin which the cones are dispensed with; Fig. 4, a sectional eleva-' tiondrawn at a right angle to Fig. 3.

Like parts in all the views are marked with similar letters ofreference.

The casing A is arranged to form two distinct chambers or compartments Fand G and whicharehereinaftertermed,respectively,the feed-chamber F andthe dust-chamber G. The casing may be made of any suitable materialsuchas, for example, wood or sheet iron or a skeleton framework of Woodcoverered with sheet-iron. In the dust-chamber G is mounted verticallyand fixed on a horizontal shaft D a fan B of any ordinary construction,or an air-propeller of, say, any suitable type, and a dust-disk O, whichis designed to prevent the dust from passing into and clogging thebearing of the shaft D. At the opposite end of the horizontal shaft Dand within the feeding-chamber F is mounted vertically and fixed adisintegrating-spreadler C. The disintegratingspreader, which issomewhat similar in construction to a claybreaker, consists of a hub ordisk having a number of rods or arms fixed at intervals to its face andprojecting toward the casing at or about a right angle to the face ofthe hub and in a line with the axis of the horizontal shaft. The fan B,disintegrating-spreader 'O, and dust-disk C may rotate in a vertical orsubstantially vertical plane. The ends of shaft D of the fan andspreader are carried in bearings E E, mounted on brackets attached tothe casing A.

The two chambers F and G may be arranged side by side, as at Figs. 3 and4, or connected together by a suction-cone H and a damper box or pipe I,provided, if required, with a coned end, as shown at Figs. 1 and 2. Acircular opening or inlet J is provided at the end of suction-cone Hnearest to the dust-chamber G. Over or across this opening J maybeprovided and fixed, if so desired, a number of baffle-plates or boardsK. Thesebaffle-plates K may either be stationary or made to move in anydesired direction by any suitablemeaus, and they may also be of anydesired shape. The fan B is made to rotate against the inlet J andbaffle-plates K in chamber G. The

spreader O rotates in chamber F close to casing A and in close proximityto feed-inlet L. The pressure of air from the dust-chamber G to thefeeding-chamber F may be regulated by damper I.

The chambers F and G are arranged to terminate at their lower ends, asin Figs. 1 and 2, in contracted outlets (respectively marked T and S)for the separated material, or only one chamber may be contracted, as inFigs. 3 and 4.

The top portion of casing A can he made, if sodesired, so that it can beremoved at pleasure. l/Vhen so desired, an angle-iron joint M isprovided for this purpose, and a liftingiron N is attached to casing A,as shown, for the purpose of lifting the top half or the whole of thecasing. On each side of vcasing A are provided carrying-brackets O O forsecuring the separator in any desired position.

The chamber F is further provided with a fixed baffle-plate P, which isfixed below the damper-opening I.

A number of doors R (see Fig. 2) are provided for cleaning out theinterior of the apparatus.

Over the cone connecting the two chambers may be fixed a coarse screenfor the purpose of preventing any large or lumpy material, rags, or thelike entering the fine chamber.

At Figs. 3 and 4 the material to be operated upon is shown as being fedinto a large hop-' shaft D in chamber F.

per L, arranged over the feed-chamber F, from which it passes to theinclined chute U, armed with a fixed or movable grating V to form asieve or riddle, through which the graded material passes to be actedupon by the fan B. This enables the disintegratingspreader, cones, andbaffle-plates above described to be dispensed with should it be sodesired.

The action of the apparatus is as follows: The material to be separatedis fed into the feed inlet or hopper L, which delivers the materialdirectly to chamber F, as at Figs. 3 and 4, or into thedisintegrating-spreader O, fixed, as before described, as at Figs. 1 and2, on At this point by the action of the disintegratingspreader thematerial is thrown or formed into a shower or spray, therebydisintegrating each particle or disengaging or separating the particlesone from each other. The fan or air-propeller B, rotating in thedust-chamber G at the desired speed, produces a certain amount ofsuction which is capable of attracting or drawing the particles of acertain specific weight from the shower or spray (caused by therevolving of the spreader 0) through the cone H, baffleplates K, andopening J into the fine chamber G. I The contents of chamber G fall bytheir gravity and pass out of it by way of outlet S. The heavierparticles contained in the shower in chamber F and which resist thesuction from fan B descend down the conical portion of chamber F and outby way of outlet T. Thecoarser portion of the material, however, beforereaching the outlet T comes into contact with the fixed baffle-plate P,which is the means of checking the velocity of the descending materialand also causing any fine particles passing out with the coarse materialto be further disengaged, whereby they are drawn up and carried throughopening J, as before described, by means of fan B. 1 Between thechambers F and G may be fixed, as described, the damper-box I,consisting of, say, a pipe containing the clack or damper I, which isopened or closed by means of a handle U, arranged on the outside of thecasing A. When this damper or clack is open, communication is madethrough openings in the damper-box I, so that any of the lighterparticles which may have been missed by the first action of the fan andhave passed partly down chamber F may now be drawn through opening Jinto chamber G by means of the surplus air from fan B, which is allowedto return back again into chamber F by way of damper-opening 1.

Having now particularly described my invention and the method ofcarrying it into practice, what I claim is 1. An apparatus for thepurpose herein specified, comprising a casing made in parts and providedwith an inlet-hopper and divided into two compartments, saidcompartments being connected at the upper portion thereof by asuction-cone provided with baffie-plates, and at a lower point by adamper-pipe provided with a conical end and having a valve,-

a horizontal shaft arranged to pass through and revolve within the saidchambers and through the center of the suction-cone, and adisintegrating-spreader mounted upon said shaft within one compartment,and a fan mounted on said shaft within the other compartment,substantially as shown and described.

2. An apparatus for the purpose herein specified, comprising a casingmade in parts and provided with aninlet-hopper and divided into twocompartments, said compartments being connected at the upper portionthereof by a suction-cone provided with baffie-plates, and at a lowerpoint by a damper-pipe provided with a conical end and having a valve, ahorizontal shaft arranged to pass through and revolve within the saidchambers and through the center of the suction-cone, and adisintegrating-spreader mounted upon said shaft within one compartment,and a fan mounted on said shaft within the other compartment, and afixed baffle-plate arranged in one compartment by whichv the materialunder treatment is subjected to a final separation of the finerparticles from the coarser, substantially as shown and described.

3. In apparatus for separating substances of differentsizes or specificgravities, the combination of a casing made in parts and armed with aninlet-hopper and divided into two compartments, said compartments beingconnected together at the upper portion by a suction-cone armed withbaffle-plates, and at a lower point by damper-pipe provided with a conedend and armed with a valve, a horizontal shaft arranged to pass throughand revolving within the said chambers and through the center, of thesuction-cone, a disintegrating-spreader mounted upon said shaft withinone compartment, and a fan and dust-disk mounted 011 said shaft withinthe other compartment, and a fixed baffle-plate arranged in onecompartment by which the material under treatment is submitted to afinal separation of the finer particles from the coarser, all arrangedsubstantially as set forth.

4. An apparatus for the purpose herein specified, consisting of twoupright casings which are open at their lower ends, said casin gs beingprovided with a conical connection the apex of which is cut away andopens into one of said casings, baffle-plates arranged at one side ofsaid opening, a shaft passing transversely through said casings, and0e11- trally through said openings, a fan mounted on said shaft in oneof said casings, a disintegrating-spreader mounted on said shaft in theother casing, an inlet-hopper connected with the outer wall of saidlast-named casing adjacent to said spreader, and a damper-box HARRY\VALKER,

Witnesses:

WILLIAM SADLER, ALAN BALOH.

